Pestis Nova Consciousness Altering Brain Deterioration Syndrome
Definition Pestis Nova Cosnciousness Altering Brain Deterioration Syndrome '('CB-Syndrome) is a syndrome caused by the WPN-113 virus. It is commonly referred to as the New Plague because it mirrored the Black Death epidemic in severity. It wiped out 90% of all human life in the 2030s/40s and prompted the Great Emigration. History The Plague first appeared in 2030 in Mercy Hospital, Chicago, IL, where it quickly spread across the entire building. The responsible, still unnamed virus proved to be resilient to most antivirals and continued to mutate at an unprecedented rate, making it impossible to find a cure. In the same year, a crisis committee was assembled and led by Elisabeth Webber, who finally managed to pin down the virus. It was named the Webber Pestis Nova Virus strain 113, or WPN-113. The spread of CB-Syndrome across the United States happened within three years and it hit Europe and Africa in 2033, infecting billions of people on both continents. Despite Webber's crisis work, the disease kept spreading and killing people. In 2032, the US resorted to using nuclear weaponry against Plague epicenters, killing hundreds of thousands of infected people. In 2038, plans for the Great Emigration were announced. Since the spread of CB-Syndrome seemed utterly unstoppable, a majority of the world's governments banded together to evacuate the planet, flee into space and colonize the moon until a solution to the Plague could be found. After the Emigration, the plan to work on a cure was abandoned and the Earth was left behind by the rest of humankind. The cure was eventually developed by Elisabeth Webber, who was left behind on Earth, and immediately lost when a horde of infected overran Webber's camp. Description CB-Syndrome manifests in multiple stages. # Initial Stage: Flu-like symptoms, like sneezing, coughing, runny nose, mild fever and sore throat. Lasts between 20 and 50 hours. # Mutative Stage: Most of the initial symptoms disappear and the patient seems to be healthier while the body undergoes a metabolic slowdown. They will refuse to eat or drink for days on end without visibly suffering from either starvation or dehydration. # Delirious Stage: The patient will become delirious and disoriented and aggressive. Amnesia starts setting in and the patient forgets their own identity and lashes out at anyone who is in contact at the time, both verbally and physically. # Feral Stage: Directly follows stage 3. Patient continuously loses higher brain functions, leaving them with nothing but an insatiable hunger. The virus now has complete control over the metabolic functions of the body and will keep the host body alive for an indefinite amount of time on the lowest life sustaining metabolic rate, until it senses potential prey. When this occurs, the virus reanimates the body and the patient stops at nothing to hunt the prey. The patient also starts producing pheromones which only seem to have an effect on other infected patents, keeping them from killing each other. This is thought to be a survival mechanism of the virus.